***WARNING: THE FOLLOWING (RATED G, FOR GENERAL AUDIENCE) REVIEW APPLIES FOR THE BLACK RUSSIAN-MADE ELECTRO HARMONIX BIG MUFF (THAT ON THE PICTURE ABOVE), NOT THE EARLIER (USUALLY MORE EXPENSIVE) TANK-GREEN MODEL WHICH MAY SOUND DIFFERENT***

This analog stompbox is something in-between a distortion and a fuzz. The controls are Volume, Tone and Sustain (which also controls the amount of distortion). No D.C. in, and the input and output jacks are reversed compared with ALL other pedals that I've ever seen or owned... Please note that although some units (like mine) were provided with a true-bypass switch, not all were... This model is no longer produced, replaced by the U.S. Big Muff which is said to sound a bit cleaner.

Well, three mere knobs... could be worse, couldn't it?

It took me some time to get used to this very dark, grainy, almost experimental kind of sounds. I rarely use it alone, most of the time I have it follow a cheap overdrive which gives the Big Muff the mid frequencies that it lacks, and the whole provides for one HUGE distorsion sound...

The way the tone knob shapes the sound is a bit surprising as you get in no time from an almost total lack of treble to a shrieking sound. This pedal is rather versatile as it goes easily from punk to vintage rock to a growling metal sound (needless to say that in the latter case you definitely shouldn't expect a sharp-edged sound -- hey, that's a FUZZ).

It is an analog overdrive pedal based on the famous Ibanez TS series. Only three knobs (tone, level, drive). Although the pedal's price is cheap, the metal case seems rather sturdy (much heavier than a Boss for approximately the same size). The switch is a bit messy though, not only does it cause a strange "bleeep!" when you activate it but also it switches on automatically whenever you plug the pedal.

Don't remember if there even was a manual, but it definitely isn't needed -- hey, we're talking about a stompbox with THREE MERE KNOBS! If you can read, you can use it, period. And if you can't read... well, then what are you doing here anyway?

A good sounding pedal that can go from a nice boost to creamy overdrive with the drive knob all ways up and the volume kept down to a fatter sound with the volume control turned higher. Will do the job for any Hendrixian to Pearl Jamesque sound you could ever want, including everything in between -- but don't expect to play metal with it. It is also very efficient in boosting an Electro Harmonix Big Muff while providing the mids the B.M. originally lacks...

***WARNING: THE FOLLOWING REVIEW APPLIES FOR A JAPAN-MADE BOSS DF-2 - NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH LATER TAIWAN-BUILT MODELS WHICH MAY --well, most likely DO-- SOUND DIFFERENT***

It is a DS1-type distortion combined with a unique feature: an artificial feedback generator -- play a single note, hold the pedal's switch and your note is now repeated endlessly, well as long as you don't release the switch at least.

It has 4 knobs -- the classical level-tone-dist, plus an "overtone" feature that allows if need be to make the artificial feedback more bright-sounding, although the more you push it and the more synthetic it sounds. Of course you can keep on playing while the overtone is heard, which gives the impression of two layers of guitar sound stacking up -- hence the name "overtone" for the control knob I suppose.


A few facts about this pedal: The Boss DF-2 was produced between 1984 and 1994, first in Japan and then in Taiwan when Boss relocated its factory there. The first models bore the inscription "Super Distortion and Feedbacker" before Boss changed it to "Super Feedbacker and Distortion" due to a threat by Di Marzio (which owned the rights to the name "Super Distortion" ) to sue Boss for copyright infringement. This explains why the price of "Super Distortion" models is usually much higher than that of "Super Feedbacker" ones, although there's no difference in the way they were built.

Well, a 4-knobs stompbox can't be that much complicated, can it!? Regarding the manual I doubt anyone has kept it due to the long time this pedal has been discontinued, but you still can get a .pdf copy of it at Roland's website (yes, for those of you who don't know Boss belongs to Roland).

For once the manual is actually useful as it explains some subtleties which may elude you --especially regarding the way to get the feedbacker sound well-- , but once again with only four knobs you'd just have to tweak for a little while before finding your sound anyway.

The distortion in itself is, well, DS1/DS2-esque, that is just average in itself in my humble opinion. Don't expect anything good out of it with the tone knob over 12:00 to 13:00 (I usually keep it between 10 and 11). Where this pedal really shines is, of course, in providing this artificial feedback which is particularly suitable for noise/punk/grunge twisted sounds ala Sonic Youth.

I use it with a Mexican Fender Fat Strat through a SansAmp, but generally I have it followed by another distortion (TS9 clone, Big Muff or anything else) so that the other pedal should shape the distinctive distortion tone of my overall sound.

Also, the feedback sound is affected by a sort of tremolo-sounding vibration, which you may or may not like... but which should easily be cut off provided you know how to mod effect pedals (the schematics are available on the web).